October 26: Doors and Windows ordinance struck down | Shale money for housing | Who pays for roads

The city’s Doors and Windows ordinance, which empowers L+I to fine property owners for unsecured or missing windows and doors their buildings, was overturned by the Court of Common Pleas after landlord Tony Rufo filed suit. Jared Brey will have an update as we know more.

Environmentalists and the Philadelphia Water Department are sounding the alarms about a possible hazardous waste recycling facility opening upstream in Bucks County, reports Tom MacDonald.

Jason Laughlin interviews some of the lower-income Indego users that the city set out to reach with the service, who tell him the bikes are a fast and easy way to get around.

L+I inspectors did not follow new inspection guidelines “in more than 80 percent of private demolitions performed over the last nine months,” reports Alfred Lubrano.

The Pennsylvania Housing Affordability and Rehabilitation Enhancement (PHARE) fund has been getting a boost from Marcellus Shale impact fees, says Eleanor Klibanoff, and now the state legislature is allowing all 67 counties to apply for that money, rather than just counties in Shale country. 

Diane Cardwell reports that the energy storage industry has been making some breakthroughs recently. The battery industry is worth watching because it affects built environment issues like electric vehicles and rooftop solar in a big way.

Joe Cortwright unpacks the report, “Who Pays for Roads?” published by US PIRG and the Frontier Group which finds “gas taxes now account for less than half of what’s spent to maintain and expand the road system.” 

T.R. Goldman profiles the Chicago suburb of Evanston, which reinvented itself as a transit-oriented hub in part by deprioritizing cars  and promoting infill development around the L.